#15 Hosono keeps OPBF belt!

By Joe Koizumi

Hard-punching prospect, WBC#15 Satoshi “Bazooka” Hosono (15-0, 12 KOs), 125.75, impressively kept his OPBF featherweight belt as he withstood a furious go-for-broke attack of game Filipino Fernando Otic (10-6, 8 KOs), 126, and finally sank him in agony with a well-timed and well-targeted body shot at 0:59 of the third round on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.

Hosono, handled by ex-WBC/WBA 105-pound champ Hideyuki Ohashi, had acquired the vacant belt by outscoring compatriot Makyo Sugita last October, and it was his second defense. The ex-national amateur champ Hosono, 25, retaliated with solid counters to have the 23-year-old Otic bleeding from the nostrils, though the Filipino surprisingly displayed a non-stop attack in the second (two judges had favored Otic in this sesson). The third witnessed Hosono land a beautiful liver shot to drop Otic on the knees with the Filipino loser paying no effort to raise himself up due to the pain. The short but power-punching Hosono is expected to face such top-notch compatriots as ex-world challenger Hiroyuki Enoki or national champ Naoki Matsuda.

Undercard:

Unbeaten WBC#21 southpaw Goh Onaga (13-0-1, 9 KOs), 111.75, disappointed the crowd, as he almost swept the first half but terribly slowed down thereafter en route to a split draw (97-95, 95-97 and 96-96) with WBC#12 Richard Garcia (20-9-1, 5 KOs), 112, over eight. Being behind on points, Garcia showed a desperate attack to the fading Japanese in the final session, which eventually carried him to a drawn verdict. Unbeaten ex-national high school champ Ryosuke Iwasa (4-0, 3 KOs), a lanky lefty, 118, decked Thailander Worawut Muangsima (10-9, 2 KOs), 117.25, three times and scored a fine stoppage at 1:58 of the second in a scheduled eight.